The best traffic-free bike rides around Pierrepont

🏰 **Château de Cons-la-Grandville – A Journey Through the Centuries** The imposing castle of **Cons-la-Grandville**, near the border with Luxembourg, combines Romanesque origins with Renaissance and Baroque architecture. Built on the foundations of a Gallo-Roman villa, it was expanded and remodeled several times from the 11th century onwards. Particularly worth seeing: the Romanesque cloister, the elegant façade, and the magnificent courtyard. 🕰️ The château was the residence of the noble de Cons family, later also a monastery, and has been lovingly restored. Today it is a listed monument and open to visitors. **Tip:** Be sure to visit the cloister – one of the oldest preserved of its kind in Lorraine. Ideal as a stopover on the way between France and Luxembourg.

Charming little historic town with an excellent restaurant Le Gras Q

The castle of Cons-la-Grandville is a castle which dates from the 11th century and which has been transformed and restored over the centuries. You can admire the architecture and sculptures of the castle, which combine Romanesque, Renaissance and classical styles. You can also explore the park and village of Cons-la-Grandville, surrounded by hills and woods.

Imposing remains of the former Vauban fortress.

Stationed in Longuyon in 1954, with an air base in Marville, the Canadians left our region in 1966/1967 following General DE GAULLE's decision in 1966 to no longer belong to NATO. The Canadians, in thanks for the welcome received by the French, proposed to the municipality, chaired by Robert DRAPIER, to build a totem characteristic of the Canadian nation. It was inaugurated on March 11, 1967 by the Indian chief KHUT LA CHA and his squaw "Princess of Peace", in the presence of the mayor and the city council, as well as the 4 colonels who had succeeded each other at the base. After many Indian dances and songs to the accompaniment of a tambourine, the chief gave his headdress to Colonel CHRISTIE, the last base commander, who unveiled the plaque affixed to the Totem's base. As a testimony to the warm welcome given by the French people to all Canadian personnel of the First Wing, Royal Canadian Air Force, who stayed at Marville Base from 1954 to 1967. Worn out over the years, our unusual Totem was replaced thanks to Canadians from the LAHR base in Germany. Renovated and carved from larch, 5.40 meters high, the new brand new totem was re-inaugurated by Pierre MERSCH, Mayor, on June 8, 1986. It is regularly maintained and some parts have been refurbished. weather and pollution would soon have overcome this memory of the past. In 2005, the second Totem, which still retained the original sculptures and designs, had to be replaced. It is now in resin, which should make it more resistant to the test of time. (https://www.longuyon.fr/Patrimoine/Totem.html)

The old railway line of the metallurgical factories that connected Gorcy, in the Longwy region, with Signeulx in Belgium is now a slow road to do on foot or by bike. After the construction of a new wooden bridge and a concrete path on the Belgian side in 2019, asphalt was laid on the old railway line on the French side in the autumn of 2020.

Listed as a historic monument since 1974, the Cons-la-Grandville stone furnace dates back to 1865. It is the last witness to the development of the steel industry in the 19th century.

Here one drives around a purification station on an iron grid along the banks of the Chiers.